


Kansas, she says, is the name of the star

by TheDameintheRaininMaine



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Oz film references, disgusting fluff, stargazing and cuddling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 14:24:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6614131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDameintheRaininMaine/pseuds/TheDameintheRaininMaine
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Do you ever miss Kansas?</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Kansas, she says, is the name of the star

Lying on her back in the soft grass, Ruby muses, 

"I've never been to Kansas before, what is it actually like there?"

Dorothy shifts beside her, turning onto her side to face Ruby, thoughtful.

The group had retreated as night approached to the old farmhouse that Dorothy had lived in since it had landed in Oz after the cyclone. Mulan and Snow had retired to one of the house's two small bedrooms, tired after the long day and the preparations for their departure and return to Storybrooke in the coming days. 

Ruby had been restless though. Skin burning and insides alive with motion, she could scarcely stay inside, and had suggested to Dorothy that they step outside and watch the stars for a bit. 

And though they had started on the rickety porch of the house, time, Ruby's pull to have the ground under her feet and the moon over her head again, and (not a small amount of) kissing had brought them further out by the trees on top of a blanket. 

It was here, during a lull and with Dorothy nestled on one shoulder, that Ruby asks the question. 

"Flat" is her first response. 

Ruby snorts. "That I have heard about". 

"Our nearest neighbors were miles away. There were no trees, only farmland. Except for the house and barn, you could see straight out in every direction as far as your eyes would let you."

There's a faraway look in her eyes. 

"At night, when the weather was good, the stars would surround you . It's different here, the sky seems so much smaller. Everything seems smaller."

"Do you ever miss it?"

Dorothy shifts again. "Kansas, only sometimes. I miss the way the ground smelled after it rained really hard. Going to church on Sundays, and then lunch afterwards. Aunty Em made the best pancakes in the world". 

"Granny's could challenge that, you'll have to have some when we get to Storybrooke". 

Dorothy briefly looks away from her, back at the sky.

"Most of the time, Kansas seems like a completely different life than Oz. Like I was a completely different person there." 

"That I can understand" Ruby says. 

"Yes, Snow spoke a little of the...curse"

"It's a long story, we'll tell you on the way back". 

Ruby sits up and pulls off her cloak. The moonlight feels good on her skin, which tingles at every point where Dorothy is touching her and is beginning to overheat. And she knows, that even here in a new world, that she no longer needs it. 

"I know that feeling thought. I don't really have a lot of great memories of the forest where I grew up. I remember picking berries in the summer, and the village dances when I got older before we all had to start hiding because of- well, because of me. Most of what I loved there was Granny and Snow and my friends."

"Storybrooke was different though?"

Ruby nods. "Storybrooke...I miss the diner, I miss serving the same people every day. I miss the ocean. I miss the little woods around us, that I could wander without getting lost. Wolf me knew the whole place like the back of my hand- well, paw I guess". 

She gazes up at the sky, the little break between the trees letting in the starlight and moonlight. 

"The stars are always the same. Here in Oz, home in Storybrooke, the stars are always the same, so I never feel truly lost anywhere even if I miss things". 

She turns her gaze back down to Dorothy. The butterflies in her stomach and fluttering, spilling over, flooding her from head to toe with feelings that she hadn't ever really believed she would get to feel. She's happy. So happy now she could almost shout. 

"I left Storybrooke because I was searching for- something- I didn't understand what. And I think I found it". 

She grips Dorothy's hands and pulls her up to a sitting position beside her. Their fingers stay intertwined, and Dorothy's face is so close to hers- so close- that she can feel her breathe on her cheek, and had she the presence of mind, could count her eyelashes. 

Dorothy's next words are quiet, she sounds almost like Ruby feels. 

"When I first landed in Oz, Glinda told me I must have fallen from a star. You may not have fallen from one either Ruby, but when you came into my life a miracle occurred". 

Then their lips meet again, softly, and the rest of the night passes without words.


End file.
